Posts TaggedAruba

Bernadette and Keith got married on the happy island of Aruba. There’s no better way to celebrate than with a few of your craziest friends far away from home, and of course some alcohol lots of alcohol and great music. A pool dive at the end of the night helps too. The next day we rented a Jeep to go to some off road locations for the Trash the Dress session. It’s great to find locations without another soul there and just do as you please.

If you visit Aruba, you will see all the license plates say “One Happy Island.” With a gorgeous lady traveling with you, anywhere is a happy place. I made sure I did my research about the locations before proceeding with the shoot. Aruba isn’t open to public nudity, so we had to be very careful on the beaches. I rented a Jeep to go off-road to find remote places to shoot, but everyone still took their cars off-road as well. It all turned out well as we got the perfect shots which were better than I could have imagined. Many times things that don’t go the way you planned turns out for the better if you are good at improvising. Finding the lone divi tree on the rock cliff provided an amazing location, as well as the secluded shack. If we had just stuck with a sandy beach shoot, it would have been a boring typical swimsuit shoot. Photographers and models always get hungry after a big project, so we drove around the island looking for local places to eat, and our favorite stop was a run down food truck we spotted. She was hesitant at first because she never ate at random dives before, but after tasting their fried chicken, homemade sauce, and fries, she was sold.

You know you’re in a good place when all the vehicle license plates are tagged with “One Happy Island.” Aruba is known for the dry weather and not affected by the hurricane season. I had the best Surf n’ Turf dinner in Aruba and I can’t wait for the next one. I promise myself I will have a destination wedding of my own to avoid all the unimportant guests, uninteresting rituals and traditions, and cookie cutter reception halls.

This was my first wedding in Aruba, and definitely not the last. I am heading over there again in two weeks. The one thing I remember the most was how good their surf and turf was. When it comes to outdoor evening receptions, I actually wish for a videographer’s tungsten lamp. It adds a dynamic light that can be offset from the camera. Sure you could bring your own flash and stand, but that’s kinda hard with a destination wedding.

There have been a good amount of weddings nowadays that don’t follow the tradition of bride and groom separated until the ceremony. There are a few reasons why this happens, and there are also advantages and disadvantages. The first and most practical reason is scheduling. When you have a tight schedule between the ceremony and reception, it leaves little time for formal portraits sometimes, so you are forced to take them while there is still day light, before the ceremony. The second reason is sometimes the couples just don’t care about certain traditions, and they don’t want to go through more trouble trying to hide from each other than not. The practical advantage of having formal sessions before the ceremony is to “get it over with.” I also like that feeling because for me, the formal session may be the most stressful part of the day. It feels great to know after all that posing, I can continue my photo journalistic style. The disadvantage I see that might occur during such early formal sessions is the lack of “fun factor” to the photos. You can’t trash your attire before the ceremony, so you have to be extra careful. It is also too early during the day to take high-energy photos, and you don’t carry over that “woohoo! the ceremony is over!” feeling/energy/vibe-instead you might still have butterflies. Fortunately with this crowd, there was no problem with them getting wild and dangerous during the “formal” session before the late afternoon ceremony. Not to mention, we were in Aruba. It was like shooting monkeys in their natural habitats.